As no failure or malfunction prior to impact could have reduced the aircraft's performance, the analysis deals with the weather conditions, the flight planning, and the pilot's decision-making. The weather forecasts, observations, and the morning flights in the area indicate that the weather conditions over the intended track were not favourable for the flight. Low stratus accompanied by drizzle and fog, as reported by the search and rescue pilot, prevailed over the route and in the mountainous area. The pilot did not request a pre-flight weather briefing from the FSS specialist, and, although conditions at the departure aerodrome were favourable for VFR, the evidence indicates that the pilot encountered adverse weather. As there was no supervision at the base, the flight planning was not checked prior to departure. The pilot encountered adverse weather in flight. Probably not fully trusting the aircraft instruments, the pilot may have tried to maintain visual contact with the ground. Although the pilot was qualified for IFR, the evidence indicates that he first tried to keep visual contact with the ground by decreasing the flight altitude. Later, at low altitude, he may have made a steep turn to turn back. The damage to the aircraft indicates that it hit the trees at a banked attitude and high speed. The Cessna quite likely hit the mountain in the turn without the pilot's being aware of the situation. In 1990, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada published a safety study on VFR flight under adverse weather conditions. Among other things, this study says that lack of planning and decision-making are recurring contributing factors, regardless of the pilots' level of experience.Analysis As no failure or malfunction prior to impact could have reduced the aircraft's performance, the analysis deals with the weather conditions, the flight planning, and the pilot's decision-making. The weather forecasts, observations, and the morning flights in the area indicate that the weather conditions over the intended track were not favourable for the flight. Low stratus accompanied by drizzle and fog, as reported by the search and rescue pilot, prevailed over the route and in the mountainous area. The pilot did not request a pre-flight weather briefing from the FSS specialist, and, although conditions at the departure aerodrome were favourable for VFR, the evidence indicates that the pilot encountered adverse weather. As there was no supervision at the base, the flight planning was not checked prior to departure. The pilot encountered adverse weather in flight. Probably not fully trusting the aircraft instruments, the pilot may have tried to maintain visual contact with the ground. Although the pilot was qualified for IFR, the evidence indicates that he first tried to keep visual contact with the ground by decreasing the flight altitude. Later, at low altitude, he may have made a steep turn to turn back. The damage to the aircraft indicates that it hit the trees at a banked attitude and high speed. The Cessna quite likely hit the mountain in the turn without the pilot's being aware of the situation. In 1990, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada published a safety study on VFR flight under adverse weather conditions. Among other things, this study says that lack of planning and decision-making are recurring contributing factors, regardless of the pilots' level of experience. There was no chief pilot and no supervision of operations at the base. The pilot did not request a weather briefing for the flight undertaken. The weather conditions on the intended track were unfavourable for VFR flight. The pilot encountered adverse weather en route and tried to turn back. The pilot probably did not fully trust the aircraft's instruments and tried to maintain visual contact with the ground. The accident site was obscured by fog throughout the morning. The aircraft was flying at high speed when it hit the trees. The aircraft did not show any evidence of failure prior to impact.Findings There was no chief pilot and no supervision of operations at the base. The pilot did not request a weather briefing for the flight undertaken. The weather conditions on the intended track were unfavourable for VFR flight. The pilot encountered adverse weather en route and tried to turn back. The pilot probably did not fully trust the aircraft's instruments and tried to maintain visual contact with the ground. The accident site was obscured by fog throughout the morning. The aircraft was flying at high speed when it hit the trees. The aircraft did not show any evidence of failure prior to impact. The pilot continued VFR flight under adverse weather conditions. Contributing factors to the occurrence were the fact that the pilot probably did not trust the instruments and the fact that he did not request weather information for the intended track prior to departure.Causes and Contributing Factors The pilot continued VFR flight under adverse weather conditions. Contributing factors to the occurrence were the fact that the pilot probably did not trust the instruments and the fact that he did not request weather information for the intended track prior to departure.